Re recent discussions on how long to wait to buy tickets to Italy:
Just got an e-mail alert from Orbitz about a $659 RT fare, taxes included, from Newark to FCO on British Airways. Of course, there is a stopover at Heathrow both ways, one for about 3hrs and the other for about 4hrs.
I'm not interested myself, as I was fortunate enough to get a ff ticket from Newark to Florence. but that's the cheapest I've seen by about $100 at least.
Posts: 6959 | Location: Montclair, NJ, USA | Registered: 16 March 2003
Thank you for the heads up, Marian. I was able to get a Washington DC-Palermo/Rome-Washington DC open jaw on Alitalia for $550 on May 5....about $300 less than I had been seeing.
Also found an open jaw fare on Delta for clients in April--Washington-Rome/Venice-Washington for $428.00 per person.
By the way, Alitalia is re-introducing a Dulles-Malpensa non-stop on March 28.....
I guess we'll be enroute to Italy at the same time. Hope we both have good weather!
BTW: This is the second time that I've been able to get FF tickets to Italy by transferring my AmEx points into Delta then having them book me onto an Alitalia flight. For some reason, this is much easier than doing same with Continental, the only other airline with a reasonable schedule between Newark and Italy. (Although Kennedy is not THAT far away, it seems pointless to me to cross two rivers and pay $100 for a car, and worry about traffic, when EWR is 20 minutes away.)
Posts: 6959 | Location: Montclair, NJ, USA | Registered: 16 March 2003
Thats what I'm doing, transferring AM EX points to Delta - it was easy to do (took seconds to do and Delta customer service have been great) and I'm on the Dulles - Malpensa nonstop that Jim mentioned. The hard part about using skymiles is there is such limited availability - I think they must just have one or two seats on each flight, and they fill up so quickly!
The cheapest flight through Alitalia for the Dulles to Malpensa for July 2004 is about $1400. Yikes!
Debbie
Posts: 122 | Location: VA, USA | Registered: 02 March 2003
Thanks for the heads up about Alitalia flying to Milan from Washington DC beginnig in March. We were hoping to fly out of DC when we go to Tuscany in May. We want to fly in and out of Florence, although I'm sure on Alitalia that would be an easy connection from Milan.
On a thread a couple of months ago I had followed a discussion about European carriers to Italy. There seemed to be a lot of discussion to the effect that Alitalia was not a very reliable carrier to deal with- things like schedule changes they didn't inform ticket holders about, etc. I know that they are on strike at the moment, but I was wondering in general how you would rate them. Since you are a travel professional, I would consider your opinion worth having.
Thanks much LK Maloney
Posts: 266 | Location: mechanicsburg PA usa | Registered: 10 August 2003
I am not sure my opinion is any more valuable than the rest of the frequent travelers on this board. I consider the flights to and from Italy "necessary evils" which have to be endured to enjoy the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow"--Italy.
I have flown most of the major airlines serving Italy and I can honestly say I have no way of picking a favorite. I have had good flights and bad flights in terms of service and comfort--some of them on the very same airline. My main criteria for picking an airline is price; second is schedule.
For example, we flew Delta/Lufthansa last Fall and the trans-Atlantic flights were among the least comfortable we have endured. The Airbus was crowded to the gills and the seats were uncomfortable. But if they had a good price and convenient connections, I would fly them again (over my wife's objections).
I also don't think it is worth the extra cost or expenditure of frequent flyer miles to fly business class....it is nice but I would rather spend my money on other things or use my miles for another trip.
Last year, I had booked KLM/Northwest using a coupon that came in the mail. I was happy that the flights were only one connection...but then KLM cancelled the Rome-Detroit non stop, so we had no choice but to take a two connection flight home--through Amsterdam and Detroit.
I can't tell that any particular airline is better or worse consistently....I wish I could.
Flew Delta from JFK to Milan in December, and can tell you that it was the worst trans-cont flight I have ever experienced. Ever. WAY overbooked, (changed seats 3 times to help out the frazzled stewards who were having a rough time with frazzled customers...interestingly, the italians didnt seem to be complaining), they feed you like an 8 year old, the plane's old and uncomfy, and they charge you for wine. Grrrr. [I got free wine for helping out with the seating arrangement ]
Get to Pisa (a nice Alitalia connection) minus luggage. No one has any idea where it is. For 3 days. Apperently they went to Rome, Venice, and Amsterdam (uh, not on my itenerary [?!]). Grrrr.
Flight home was on Alitalia into Newark. Much better. No probs. Free wine.
My favorite carrier is British, even considering that you have to change airports (and buy pounds for the bus) in London. Highest quality and great service, even for me, all the way in the back. Everyone has their own movie watcher, bigger seats, a bit more food, roomier planes. I've gotten good rates on them, too.
Liked the comment about it being a necessary evil. That it is.
I am still in a quandary over my airfare.I want to use frequent flyer miledge but my itinerary is 21 hours each way.Going through london may require change or airports then a bus(may as well take the long flights).Tickets to buy are 1000 plus. When I checked today a one stop flight was available to Florence but not the way back.Do you think that the Airfrance flight with one stop will be have availability for my dates in late May?RR
Posts: 6524 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
Topic Closed
but that's the cheapest I've seen by about $100 at least.
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